Friday Fiction - The Ring Toss Pt. 5

A last-minute change lands Mack in a long white dress, but can she commit?

Are you ready for week 5?! If not, you can check out Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 first.

Mack's been cast to play a bridesmaid in an equity-waiver production of "Something Borrowed, Something Blue", but at the last minute she's upgraded to the role of Brittney, The Bride. It's a tough gig for a woman with a wedding phobia, especially since her boyfriend Joe's not around to talk her off the ledge. Last week she had to deal with a costume that didn't quite cover, how to cry on cue, and a cast-mate who was acting a little weird...

The Play – Something Borrowed, Something Blue: A Bachelorette’s Adventure

Director: Dusty Squires

Assistant to the Director: Donald Loudemilk

Cast:

Brittney (the bride): Mackenzie Reed

Mara (the maid of honor): Geneva Louise

Kenley (the bride’s sister): Dusty Squires

Caitlyn (the bridesmaid): Cheyenne Miller

Salvatore (the stripper): Julio Lorenze

Pete (the groom): Julio Lorenze

The girls were all draped over Mara’s living room furniture, waiting for me to come back onstage. They were posed like a photo shoot from Glamour Magazine, even the one in drag. The tray of hors d'oeuvres had been picked over and all of the glasses were empty.

Mara was singing softly. “Chi Omega, yours forever, loyal we will be…”

Laughing, Caitlyn tossed a pillow at her. “Shut up. You’re the only one who can remember the words.”

“Let the girl sing. I want to hear it,” Kenley said.

Mara resumed singing. “To our symphony and colors, our fraternity…”

“Shut up,” Caitlyn groaned. “Don’t encourage her.”

When I entered the scene, Kenley was sitting with her arms crossed, trying not to laugh, and Mara was happily singing. My eyes were damp and I focused on taking shallow, hiccup-y breaths so the audience would think I'd been crying. “I love that song.”

“Seriously? Let it go already.” Caitlyn looked a little stabby.

“For our bonds shall ne’er be broken, Chi Omega Chi…” Mara sang the last line.

Caitlyn came over and put her arm around me. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.”

Caitlyn pulled me closer to the lamp. “C’mere. Your eyeliner is smudged.”

I tipped my head up so Caitlyn could run her finger under my lower lashes. It tickled, which made it hard to hold still until Kenley’s line cued me to move.

“Hey, there’s going to be a stripper tonight, right?”

Mara layered on the enthusiasm. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good, cuz if I have to sit here in sorority row there had better be some man-flesh as payoff or I’m gonna get all Noo Yawk on you ladies.” Kenley stood and smiled.

I pulled away from Caitlyn, forgetting for a minute that Brittney was supposed to have a big smile on her face. In reality, strippers were not my thing. No one on stage indicated they’d noticed my little faux pas.

“I got it covered,” Mara said. “This guy named Salvatore is supposed to meet us at the club.”

“Ooh, man flesh.” Caitlyn rubbed her hands together.

“Salvatore the Stripper?” Kenley snorted. “Nice.”

“He’s supposed to be quite…um…large. I wanted to make sure my friend Brittney’s last sight of freedom was worthwhile.” Mara gave me a naughty grin as she swirled past the overstuffed furniture on her way off-stage. A minute later she was back, carrying a tiny, vintage clutch purse. “The limo should be here in just a couple minutes.”

I draped the faux-fur stole over my shoulders and, a minute later, someone came up behind me and started stroking the fur. “Love this,” Caitlyn said.

“Thanks, sweetie.”  I turned to face her.

Caitlyn’s smile was a touch envious. “You’re going to be such a beautiful bride. You always were the pretty one.”

“Oh, right.” It was my turn to snort.

“I wouldn’t argue with her, sister. You’re going to look gorgeous tomorrow.” This was probably the only point in the play where Kenley and Caitlyn agreed on something.

“It’s not too late to back out, is it?” I put in as much tension as I could, immediately getting everyone’s attention.

“What? You’re kidding, right?” Kenley frowned at me.

“No…I mean yeah. Of course I’m kidding.” I forced in a deep breath.

Mara laughed. “She’s totally kidding, you guys.”

“I don’t know, baby sister. Don’t lie, now.” Kenley stepped closer to me, which made Caitlyn back away. They were like a pair of magnets that constantly repelled each other.

“It’s all going so fast. I don’t think I’m ready.” I dragged the fur stole off my shoulders and started twisting it like a pretzel.  

“Haven’t you been engaged for, like, a year?” Caitlyn sounded confident, like she was totally counting on winning the bet.

I choked out an answer. “Yes.”

“You know what, you’re having cold feet. It’s okay, though. We’re your best friends. We’ll get you through it.” Mara came over and put her arm around me. “We’ll have so much fun tonight you won’t have time to be scared. Because you know, Brittney, you are the pretty one, just like I’m the smart one.”

Between Mara and Kenley, I was a Brittney sandwich. I let my breathing slow and tried to dissolve some of the tension that had twisted across my shoulders and around my jaw. My emotions were fueling Brittney’s responses, but it would be a bad thing if I lost track of which one of us was in charge.

Kenley waited a couple beats. “Which one am I?”

“You’re the model, Kenley.” Mara laughed, a sound that was as poised and perfect as the rest of her.

Kenley gave her a fist bump over the top of my head. “I thought I was the old one.”

Mara laughed. “Shut up.”

“Which one am I?” Caitlyn asked.

“Oh, Caitlyn, honey, you’ve always been the bitchy one.”  Mara delivered the line with stiletto sweetness, and Kenley choked back a laugh.

“Yeah, baby.” Caitlyn picked up a real, red fox coat and glared at Mara. “I work hard at getting the details right.”

A horn honked offstage.

“Let’s go see Salvatore the Stripper.” Kenley pulled me by the arm in the direction of the unseen limo. The others followed, singing, “Chi Omega, Yours Forever” as they left.

Check back next week to see if Salvatore the Stripper is really all that, and if Mack's cold feet warm up any...jump HERE to Part 6....

Happy Weekend!

Liv